Ventilator-air purifier combination



p 9, 1961 s. .1. ZSARNOTI 3,000,291

VENTILATORr-AIR PURIFIER COMBINATION Filed Jan. 20, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 24 I 20 2 4 I J FIG. I

+3 FIG. 4

INVENTOR.

FIG. 2 FIG. 3 SANDOR J. ZSARNOTI BY 7/7 a 77 ATTORNEY Sept. 19, 1961 s. J. ZSARNOTI VENTILATOR-AIR PURIFIER COMBINATION Filed Jan. 20, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

FIG. 8

INVENTOR. SANDOR J. ZSARNOTI BY7Z47M ATTORNEY United States Patent 9 3,000,291 VENTlLATOR-AIR PURIFIER COMBINATION Sandor J. Zsarnoti, Michigan City, Ind.

(8510 Bruce Drive, Niles, Ill.)

Filed Jan. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 710,152 4 Claims. (Cl. 98-37) The present invention relates to ventilators and more particularly to the combination of a ventilator and air purifier. One of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide a ventilator-purifier combination construction which can be used either as individual units between or along the sides of panes of glass or as a bank of units forming a separate ventilating and purifying system and which when used as a part of the window frame blends in with the general construction and design of the structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a selfcleaning ventilator and purifying construction which will remove dust, grit and other foreign particles from the air and precipitate this removed material to the bottom of the unit where it will be ejected automatically to the outside.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ventilator of relatively simple construction and operation which is opened and closed by the movement of an element directly outwardly and inwardly and which retains substantially the same appearance in its open position as in its closed position.

Another object is to provide a versatile ventilator structure which can be constructed of various sizes, shapes and combinations and which can be readily assembled and thereafter easily manipulated to open and close, and be cleaned and serviced.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination ventilator and purifier which permits the free flow of air therethrough when the unit is open and which seals tight when closed, providing a plurality of dead air spaces in series from outside to inside to give elfective heat and cold insulation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ventilator which can be left open in all weather conditions without any danger of rain or snow passing therethrough.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of a picture window mounted in a frame with a plurality of my ventilator-purifier units mounted therein at each end of the window;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of the side facing inwardly of one of my ventilator-purifier units;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the unit shown in FIGURE 2 taken on line 33;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the side facing outwardly of the units shown in FIGURES 2 and 3;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view of one of my units taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4, showing the ventilator unit in closed position;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal cross sectional view of the unit taken on line 66 of FIGURE 4, showing the ventilator unit in opened position;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of a part of the mechanism employed in operating the unit to open and close the ventilator;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary partial cross sectional view of my unit taken on line 8-8' of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary partial cross sectional view of the unit taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURES 10 and 11 are horizontal cross sectional views of window and frame construction illustrating varions arrangements for assembling my ventilator-purifier units individually and in a bank in combination with the window pane; and

FIGURE 12 is a vertical cross sectional view of a modified form of my ventilator-purifier unit, showing the unit in its open position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a picture window and ventilator-air purifier assembly consisting of a frame 20 having mounted therein a pane of glass 22 and three of my ventilator-purifier units 24 at each end of the pane. The ventilator-purifier unit arrangement shown in this figure is merely for the purpose of illustrating one of a number of possible assemblies incorporating one or more of my units, and is not to be considered as a limitation on the scope of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention the ventilatorair purifier unit as illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 9 includes two vertical side wall members 26 and 28 secured at the top and bottom to frame structural parts 30 and 32 and spaced from one another to form an air passage 34 having an air inlet 36 at the outside and air outlet 38 on the room side of the unit. Frame parts 30 and 32 form the top and bottom walls of passage 34 although in some installations these walls may be special plates or members constituting a specific part of the present unit. Air inlet 36 and outlet 38 have the appearance of vertical slots extending nninterruptedly from. the top to the bottom of the unit. The outside edges 40 of wall members 26 and 28 taper inwardly and the inside portions 41 of said members extend inwardly, thus providing a substantially larger area in passage 34 than the inlet and outlet openings. The internal side walls of wall members 26 and 28 are provided with vertically arranged bafliles 42 and 44 formed integrally with the wall members and extending therefrom toward the center of passage 34 and at an angle toward the inlet opening. These two baflies extend throughout the full height of the wall members dividing passage 34 into a front chamber 46 and a rear chamber 48 also extending vertically from top to bottom in the unit.

Mounted in passage 34 and extending the full height thereof is a movable partition 50 having thereon batlies 52' and 54 extending therefrom toward the side wall members and at an angle toward the air inlet opening. Bafiles 52 and 54 cooperate with baffies 42 and 44, respectively, to close chamber 46 from chamber 48 when the partition is in the position shown in FIGURE 5 and to create a circuitous path for the air flow through passage 34 when the partition is in the position shown in FIG- URE 6. A vertical strip 60 is secured to the outside edge of partition 50 and has vertical flanges 62 and 64 at each edge positioned at an angle corresponding to the angle of edges 40 of side wall members 26 and 28 so that when partition 50 is moved to the position shown in FIGURE 5, said vertical flanges will seat on edges 40 and fully close air inlet opening 36. A flat vertical strip 66 is secured to the inside edge of partition 50 and at right angles thereto and is adapted to seat on the walls 68 defining air outlet opening 38 and fully close the opening throughout its length. In order to assure a satisfactory seal between the strip and walls 68 a gasket or sealing strip 70 is preferably provided on the surface of strip 66 facing outlet opening 38. This sealing strip is preferably of rubber or rubber-like material cemented or otherwise joined to the surface of strip 66. It is seen from FIGURE 5 that when partition 50 is fully to the left strips 60 and 66 fully close air inlet and outlet openings 36 and 38, respectively, and baflles 52 and 54 are in contact with bafiies 42 and 44, fully sealing chamber 46 chamber 48 and providing four dead air chambers,

46a, 46b, 48a and 48b, to serve as insulation between the outside and inside surfaces of the unit.

Partition 50 is mounted for movement between a lower track 74 and an upper track 76 and is supported on the lower track by a pair of rollers 78 and 80 attached to the lower edge of the partition by legs 82 and 84, respectively. The rollers have flanges 86 and 83 to retain them on and guide them along track 74 and are rotatably connected to their respective legs by pins 90. The upper end of partition 50 is guided along track 76 by a pair of rollers 92 and 94 attached to the upper edge of the partition by arms 95 and 96, respectively. These rollers have guide flanges 98 and 100 and are connected to their respective arms by pins 102. Both tracks 74and '76 are preferably rigidly connected to the lower and upper ends, respectively, of side wall members 26 and 23 so that v the ventilating and air purifying structure can be handled as a unit; however, the two tracks may be mounted on the window frame if desired. Transverse slots 104 and 106 (FIG. 3) are provided in window frame parts 32 and 30 for legs 82 and 84 and arms 95 and 96, and these slots extend toward the outer and inner sides sufiiciently to permit partition 50 to move fully between its fully closed and fully opened positions. The outside end of slot 104 is completely concealed or enclosed by strip 60 when partition 50 is moved to its closed position.

Partition 50 is latched in its open and closed positions by spring clips 108 and 110, each consisting of a leaf spring 112 having a downwardly turned arm 114 riveted or otherwise secured either to the window frame or the adjacent track 76 and 74. The spring contains four half loops 116, 118, 120 and 122 for receiving pins or lugs 124 and 126, half loops 118 and 122 receiving said pins when partition 50 is in its opened position and half loops 116 and 120 receiving said pins when partition 50 is in its fully closed position. Half loops representing intermediate positions may be provided if desired. In order to shift the position of the partition between open and closed positions the partition is merely pushed outwardly or pulled inwardly to the position desired and spring 112 yields sufiiciently to disengage the half loops from their respective pins. A handle 128 attached to strip 66 near the vertical center of partition 50 is preferably provided to facilitate moving the partition inwardly and outwardly to the desired position. Other types of operating mechanisms, including a screw and crank mechanism, may be employed.

When the present ventilator and air purifier combination has been installed in the manner described herein and is in open position as shown in FIGURE 6, air will flow from outside to inside through passage 34, and in passing through the ventilator, makes five distinct and sharp reversals in flow at points A, B, C, D, E, F and -G on each side of partition 50. At each of these points the foreign particles suspended in the air tend to be thrown from the air stream and precipitated at the bottom of passage 34 where they will slide from the ventilator along the outwardly and downwardly sloping surface of window frame part 32. The large cross sectional area of passage 34 relative to air inlet opening 36 also causes the velocity of the air in the passage to decrease sufficiently to be unable to carry the dust, droplets of moisture and other foreign particles in suspension and hence permits these materials to fall to the bottom of the passage where they are removed as previously described. Closing of the ventilator by moving partition 50 to its left hand position, as seen in FIGURE 5, seals passage 34 at the outside by strip 60, the inside by strip 66 or gasket 70 and in the center by batfies 42, 44, 52 and 54, thus creating the insulating dead air spaces 46a, 46b, 48a and 48b. It is seen that the present unit not only purifies the air while the ventilator is in use and removes the dirt precipitated from the air but also forms an effective insulating structure when not in use. 7

In FIGURES a bank 140 of three of the present ventilator-purifier units 142, 144 and 146 (shown schematically) is shown mounted in a window frame 20 at one end of the window pane 22'. In this arrangement each individual unit is substantially the same as unit 24 described in detail hereinbefore, hence the same numerals will be used for like parts. Side wall member 26 of unit 142 and side wall member 28 of unit 146 are the same as the previously described unit and are placed in contact with sealing strips 148 and 150 around window pane 22 and with the vertical portion of frame 20, respectively. Side wall members 152 and 154 form the side wall members of the corresponding adjacent units but are otherwise the same as the corresponding side members of unit 24. In the bank of units tracks 74 and 76 and the cooperating rollers 78 and and 92 and 94 are provided on partitions 50 of units 142, 144 and 146 and partitions 50 of all three units are tied rigidly together by four bars 156 which are extensions of pins 124 and 126 located at both the upper and lower ends of the unit. The partitions are pushed outwardly to open the bank of units and pulled inwardly to close the units, using a handle such as handle 128, and springs 108 and latch the partitions in the desired positions, as previously described.

The arrangement shown in FIGURE 11 is a further illustration of the versatility of the present ventilator-air purifier construction. In this figure the units are shown used as parting strips or as part of the frame between two panes of glass. Inasmuch as side wall members 26 and 28 are rigid and are secured firmly to window frame parts 30 and 32, they constitute adequate support for the panes without any additional reinforcement. Side members 26 and 28 are provided with vertical grooves 161 for the edge of the glass and sealing strips 162 and 164 for retaining the pane in place and making a water-tight joint between the pane of glass and the unit. In this arrangement the side wall members are tapered inwardly toward the outside throughout most of their horizontal width as shown at numeral in order to improve the appearance of the individual separated units. The operation and function of the units disclosed in FIGURE 11 are the same as the unit described initially herein.

A modified form of the present invention is disclosed in FIGURE 12 wherein the side walls consist of cylindrical body having a frusto-conical flange 172 on the outside end and a frusto-conical baflie 174 extending inwardly from the internal surface of the body toward said outside end. The body contains an air inlet opening 176 and an air outlet opening 178 connected by passage 180 to the hollow interior of the body. The unit is mounted in a circular hole in a window frame, panel or the like, and is retained therein by end panel 182 and annular flange 184, both being secured to body 170 and engaging a supporting panel 186. In this embodiment as in the units previously described, the unit is closed at both the inside and outside ends and at the intermediately disposed bafile. Air inlet opening 176 is closed by a frusto-conical cap 188 mounted on one end of a longitudinally movable rod 190 and the air outlet opening 178 is closed by a disc-shaped door 192 mounted on the other end of rod 190. The rod is supported in the center of the body by two spaced bearings 194 and 196 held rigidly in place by a plurality of arms 198 secured to the bearings and to the internal side walls of the body. Mounted on the rod between the bearings is a frusto-conical bafiie 200 extending outwardly and forwardly from the rod. This baflie cooperates with bathe 174 to create chambers 202 and 204 and, when rod 190 has been moved to its left hand position, it engages baflie 174 closing off the two chambers and forming two dead air insulating spaces in the unit. In order to open the ventilator-air purifier unit, rod 190 carrying cap 188 and door 192 is pushed outwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 12. The air then flows through the unit in a circuitous path making a number of distinct and sharp turns which assist in removing the entrained dust, particles of water and the like from the air. To close the unit, rod 190 is pulled to the left with handle 206, seating cap 188 on the external surface of flange 172, baffle 200 on baffle 174 and door 192 on panel 182 around outlet opening 178, thus closing the unit at three distinct places and forming dead air spaces of chambers 202 and 204.

In all the embodiments of my invention disclosed here in, screening may be placed over the air outlet opening of the units. The screening is preferably inserted in place in such a manner that it can easily be removed and, when the screening is used, the handles for opening and closing the units are preferably placed on the room side thereof and connected to partition 50 or rod 190 by one or more rod-like extensions through the screening.

While the description throughout the specification has referred to the present unit as only admitting air into the room, in certain installations and/or under certain conditions, the present construction will operate as an air exhaust unit, with air flow through the unit from inside to outside, i.e. from outlet opening 38 to inlet opening 36. For convenience of description in the specification and claims, the opening on the outside has been referred to as the air inlet and the opening on the inside as the air outlet, regardless of the direction which the air may be flowing through the unit. Further, while the unit is shown and described with the side members and partition in their vertical position, the unit can in certain installations be used satisfactorily at an angle from vertical or fully horizontal. The parts of the present unit may be made of any suitable materials such as steel, aluminum, and plastics, side members 26 and 28 and partition 50 preferably being extruded aluminum.

A number of changes and modifications in my ventilator-air purifier unit have been shown and described herein. These and others may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A ventilator-air purifier construction, comprising vertically arranged substantially parallel side members each having flanges on both edges extending toward the respective flange on the other side member and spaced laterally from one another to form an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, vertically arranged baflies connected to the internal side walls of each of said side members and extending inwardly toward each other and toward said inlet opening, a vertical partition extending parallel with said side wall members and through said air inlet opening, a vertically arranged bafl le on each side of said partition and extending outwardly generally toward said first mentioned baflies and toward said inlet opening, a vertical strip on the outside edge of said partition forming a closure for said inlet opening and having flanges corresponding to the adjacent flanges on said side wall members, a vertical strip on the inside edge of said par tition forming a closure for said outlet opening, sealing material on the surface of said last mentioned strip facing said outlet opening, a track below said partition extending generally parallel with the lower edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and mounted on said track, a track above said partition extending generally parallel with the upper edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and engaging said last mentioned track, a lug carired by said partition adjacent each of said rollers, a spring means at the upper end of said par tition having a part forming notches for receiving the lugs at the upper end of said partition, a spring means at the lower end of said partition having a part forming notches for receiving the lugs at the lower end of said partition, a handle connected to said partition for moving the latter inwardly and outwardly, a plate like member at the bottom of said side wall members sloping outwardly and downwardly and substantially closing the lower end between said members, and a plate like member at the top of said side wall members sloping outwardly and upwardly and substantially closing the upper end between said members.

2. A ventilator-air purifier construction, comprising vertically arranged side members each having flanges on both edges extending toward the respective flange on the other side member and spaced laterally from one another to form an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, vertically arranged bafiies connected to the internal side walls of each of said side members and extending inwardly toward each other and toward said inlet opening, a vertical partition extending parallel with said side wall members and through said air inlet opening, a vertically arranged baflie on each side of said partition and extending outwardly generally toward said first mentioned baflies and toward said inlet opening, a vertical strip on the outside edge of said partition forming a closure for said inlet opening and having flanges corresponding to the adjacent flanges on said side wall members, a vertical strip on the inside edge of said partition forming a closure for said outlet opening, sealing material on the surface of said last mentioned strip facing said outlet opening, a track below said partition extending generally parallel with the lower edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and mounted on said track, a track above said partition extending generally parallel with the upper edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and engaging said last mentioned track, a lug carried by said partition adjacent each of said rollers, a spring means at the upper end of said partition having a part forming a notch for receiving the lugs at the upper end of said partition, a spring means at the lower end of said partition having a part forming a notch for receiving the lugs at the lower end of said partition and means connected to said partition for moving the latter inwardly and outwardly.

3. A ventilator-air purifier construction, comprising vertically arranged side members each having flanges on both edges extending toward the respective flange on the other side member and spaced laterally from one another to form an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, vertically arranged baflies connected to the internal side walls of each of said side members and extending inwardly toward each other and toward said inlet opening, a vertical partition extending parallel with said side wall members and through said air inlet opening, a vertically arranged baflie on each side of said partition and extending outwardly generally toward said first mentioned baffles and toward said inlet opening, a strip on the outside edge of said partition forming a closure for said inlet opening and having flanges corresponding to the adjacent flanges on said side wall members, a strip on the inside edge of said partition forming a closure for said outlet opening, a track above said partition extending generally parallel with the lower edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and mounted on said track, a lug carried by said partition, and a spring means for latching said partition in preselected positions having a part forming a notch for receiving the lug.

4. A ventilator-air purifier construction, comprising vertically arranged side members each having flanges on both edges extending toward the respective flange on the other side member and spaced laterally from one another to form an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, vertically arranged bafiies connected to the internal side walls of each of said side members and extending inwardly toward each other and toward said inlet opening, a vertical partition extending parallel with said side wall members and through said air inlet opening, a vertically arranged baflie on each side of said partition and extending outwardly generally toward said first mentioned bafiies and toward said inlet opening, a strip on the outside edge of said partition forming a closure for said inlet opening and having flanges corresponding to the adjacent flanges on said side wall members, a strip on the inside edge of said partition forming a closure for said outlet opening, a track above said partition extending generally parallel with the lower edge of said partition, a pair of spaced rollers rotatably connected to said partition and mounted on said track, and means for retaining said partition in preselected positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Burke Feb. 2, 1930 Marshall Aug. 2, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 17, 1894 Great Britain Apr. 5, 1917 Italy Nov. 23, I946 

